Customer Reviews

Still Standing: A Century of Urban Train Station Design (Railroads Past and Present)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was pleased to discover this book, and to find it was really more than just a group of train station photographs - as beautiful as they are. The writer/photographer simply yet eloquently shares his love of these structures - both in his writing and in the loving way the many station photographs are presented and framed. I purchase a lot of design and architecture books. It is not often this type of book delivers so much "heart". A very pleasant surprise!

It is very seldom one finds a book on a specialized subject such as striking photos of train station architecture that is executed with such passion and commitment. The preface gives a brilliant foundation to this study which, in lesser hands, could have easily become dry and academic. The photos are stunning and the placement of the camera always reveals the design or the detail that distills what the designer of the station intended. The layout is beautifully done with a keen eye for color and layout. I love this book, and it is high on my gift-giving list for Christmas.

The photos are few and mediocre and the printing is of low quality with poor color saturation and muddy details (perhaps because it is printed in China?). Even the limited details of the stations themselves (the only written information in the book) is lacking in depth. Save your money....

More than a pictorial shrine to the glorious railroad station, Christopher Brown's book takes us beyond the magnificent stone, brick and mortar to an informed cultural journey. While enjoying the book I experienced a disturbing sense of loss of something wonderful and endearing like learning of a beloved relative two generations removed. I'm on my second read.